


Flowers In the Infirmary

by starryrosez



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Feelings Realization, Hanahaki Disease, Lance being a good friend, Love Confessions, M/M, Major Character Injury, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-19 05:38:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13697961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryrosez/pseuds/starryrosez
Summary: When Keith gets injured to the point of needing to spend some time in the healing pods, Shiro worries about the other condition Keith has that may be his fault: one-sided love.





	Flowers In the Infirmary

**Author's Note:**

> For [Mason](http://prxncebxywxnder.tumblr.com/) Happy Valentine's Day!  
> Written for the Shance Support Squad Valentine's Day Exchange.  
> Enjoy! <3

Shiro stared at Keith’s lifeless body in the pod. He looked younger with his eyes closed and relaxed in there. He looked a lot like the boy he had grown up with back on Earth. They were neighbors, he always thought of Keith as a little brother. Neither had any siblings and sort of adopted each other the moment they met. They were like two peas in a pod, joined at the hip and would sacrifice everything for the other. 

 

Shiro held back a tear as he placed his hand onto the glass. The pod vibrated under his touch and felt warm, but it did nothing to take away the cold he felt in his heart. He couldn’t stop feeling like Keith getting hurt was all his fault. The guy sacrificed himself for Shiro. 

 

He remembered the battle. They were surrounded by the enemy. Lance had been able to escape and had discovered a perfect sniping tower, but it wasn’t enough. The other four were completely surrounded by the sentries. He remembered being back to back to the three of them-- Keith, Hunk, and Pidge--slashing and blasting and fighting for their life. Shiro didn’t believe they could make it. Suddenly, there was an opening in the enemy forces. Shiro had ordered them to quickly dash through the opening before it closed. He was afraid that if they couldn’t make it through that small opening, there wouldn’t be another chance. They had to seize it. 

 

The four of them dashed out, weapons ready in their hands as they made a break for their exit. Shiro had shouted through the intercoms to meet at the rendezvous point. Lance’s firing had ceased, and he knew Lance had begun to move there. They were on their own. Despite his caution, Shiro had failed to notice a sentry aiming at him. He heard the shot and turned around just in time for a body to push him out of the way and take the hit. Time seemed to slow down. The person fell to the floor, their red bayard skittering across the floor. Pidge raced to grab it as Shiro looked down, already knowing who had done it. But it didn’t make the pain hurt less. Shiro felt his heart break into pieces seeing Keith unconscious body on the floor. He didn’t have time to shed tears, he quickly scooped up Keith and hoisted him over his shoulder. Keith was light and hung like a sack of potatoes over Shiro’s shoulder. Pidge and Hunk appeared by Shiro’s side, ready to help defend Shiro and Keith. They managed to get out of the room and Shiro slashed the control panel with his metal arm, trapping the enemy inside. The three of them raced down the warship towards their rendezvous point where Lance was already waiting for them in front of his lion. Upon the sight of them he brightened up. 

 

“About time! Glad you all made it out--” he stepped forward to greet them with open arms but his eyes fell onto the unconscious Keith in Shiro’s arms. He paused eyes widening and brows knitting together in concern. “What happened?”

 

“No time, take Keith back to castle in your lion and get him to a cryopod,” Shiro ordered as he handed Keith to Lance. Lance nodded as he dragged Keith’s unresponsive body to the lion. Shiro stared wistfully at the two before turning back to the rest of his team. “Head back to your lions and let’s try to distract the fighter pilots while Lance takes him back.” 

 

The others nodded and ran off to their lions, Shiro lingered for a moment, staring at the blue lion as it roared to life and flew off into outer space. He ran towards his own lion one thought repeating over and over in his head as he fought off the fighter planes. 

 

_ Please let him be okay _ . 

 

He remembered after returning to the castle-ship, scrambling out of his lion and racing towards the blue lion’s hangar with the others in tow. Lance had just carried Keith out of the lion when they all entered. His expression was grim as he handed Keith back to Shiro. 

 

“We better get him to the infirmary,” Lance said as he gave Keith to Shiro, “he doesn’t look like he has much time left.” 

 

Everybody followed Shiro to the infirmary and helped him undress Keith. Allura helped him put Keith inside. Once Keith was inside, Coran sealed the doors and ran a scan to check if everything was okay. The others sat at the steps of the pod, looking up at Keith with worried expressions. Pidge was the first to look away.

 

“You don’t think he’ll…?” Pidge grimaced at the thought of what she was about to say. 

 

“No, he’ll live,” Hunk reassured as he turned to his friend. “He has to.”

 

Lance, who usually had something to say, remained silent, quietly gazing at Keith. Finally he spoke. “How is he looking, Coran?”

 

Coran looked up from his analysis and gave the princess a grim look. Allura crossed over to the screen to look over the results. Her face paled. “Impossible…”

 

“What is it?” Shiro asked, the others giving the Alteans expected looks. 

 

“Ah… perhaps you should explain, princess,” Coran stepped back, allowing Allura to have full control of the panel. The princess nodded as she pressed a button, letting the results of the scan flicker across the room in a hologram. All the results were written across the board in Altean, making it impossible for the group to understand. Even Pidge, who had been studying the language for quite some time, struggled to comprehend what was in front of her. 

 

Allura cleared her throat as she grimly swiped across the various graphs and zoomed in on one in particular. Nobody understood what it was telling them but the low numbers looked depressing. 

 

“The wound Keith has from battle has already begun to heal, he’s making a remarkable recovery despite the fact that it hit a vital organ. He’ll definitely be healed from that in two days time.”

Despite the terrific news nobody jumped up and cried for joy. The tone in her voice made it clear that there was something else involved. Shiro’s eyes flickered over to the dormant Keith, a string tugging at Shiro’s heart. Was there something else Keith had that he didn’t tell the others?

 

“Well, he seems to have a strange condition, a virus per se that is quite rare to develop, but it does happen,” Allura brought up an image on the hologram of a human body with strange vines growing out of the human’s lungs. “It’s a virus where plants, usually flowers, develop inside a living being’s system. The virus usually starts in the lungs and spreads across its host until they suffocate and die.”

 

“Symptoms usually are vomiting out plants, choking, loss of appetite, and asthma,” Coran supplied. “If left untreated for long periods of time, the victim can die of suffocation.”

 

Hunk and Pidge gasped. “That’s awful,” Pidge said as she looked back at Keith. “How far along is he…?”

 

Allura frowned. “Stage 3, he needs to stay in the pod for a few extra days so that it can clean out the plants but they’ll keep growing… he’ll need to return to the pod periodically.”

 

“It sounds like you just diagnosed him with cancer,” Lance commented gravely. “Stage 3 is pretty serious huh? It must be a miracle that he’s alive.”

 

“It’s a miracle he’s been able to hide it for so long,” Allura corrected. “He should’ve begun throwing up flowers back in Stage 2, and nobody has noticed?”

 

Silence. Shiro’s ears rang as he looked back at Keith, the most important person in his life. He was suddenly a little more grateful that Keith had to be sent to the pods. Despite how much Shiro hated for Keith to get hurt, he didn’t dare think about what could’ve happened if they hadn’t discovered this. 

 

“How does this virus develop? Is it contagious? We should check ourselves as well in case we also have the virus,” Shiro advised.

 

Allura shook her head, “That won’t be necessary, this virus needs a very special condition for it to develop.”

 

“What condition is that?” Shiro asked desperately. He needed to know. He needed to help Keith anyway he could. He was responsible for Keith, and now Keith was hurt because the stubborn red paladin wanted to protect Shiro. He had to make sure Keith recovered with little chance of it ever developing again, no matter the cost. 

 

“One-sided love.”

 

Shiro felt like time had stopped and merged into a different scenery, from a past time. He was back on earth, looking out into the orange and red hues of an afternoon sky on the grounds of the Garrison. He was wearing his uniform, he had no scars, no lost limbs, no white hair. He was just Takashi Shirogane again, an officer at a Military School and a highly skilled pilot. 

 

Next to him stood Keith in his school uniform. It was crazy to think how much had changed since their days together at the Garrison. Keith back then lacked the wild mullet, eye-bags and bruises he had in the present. Shiro was talking about how excited he was about going to Kerberos with Keith. Keith was looking Shiro as if the moon was the most fascinating thing Keith had ever heard about. His dark blue eyes were glittering in the fading light of day. 

 

“I’m going to miss Earth,” Shiro had admitted with a sigh. He turned to Keith with a adoring smile. “I’ll especially miss you.”

 

The corner of Keith’s lip turned up as he stepped closer to Shiro. His face was turning red as he admitted, “I’ll miss you too.”

 

“Take care of yourself, okay?” Shiro felt his heart racing as Keith inched even closer to Shiro. His face was bright red but there was a look of stubborn determination on his face and it confused Shiro. Suddenly, there were lips pressed against his. They felt soft and persistent and Shiro could feel all the emotion Keith was pouring into it. Just as quickly as it happened, the feeling of lips against his disappeared. Now Shiro was the flustered one as Keith backed away.

 

“I will,” Keith promised, his dark blue eyes sparkling in that way that Shiro now understood was love. 

 

“Keith,” Shiro managed to say in his dazed phase, “Keith I--”

 

“I know,” Keith raised a hand, cutting him off, “You don’t need to tell me. I just wanted to let you know how I felt and that I hope you’ll still want me to be around.”

 

“Keith, I will always want you by my side,” Shiro said, “But I don’t see you in that way. You’re like a brother to me.”

 

“I know,” Keith repeated in a more choked up voice. The light in his eyes had faded and he looked ready to cry. He smiled sadly. “I’ll see you when you come back.”

 

“Keith, wait--”

 

But it was too late. Keith had already turned around and returned to the building, leaving Shiro on that cursed rooftop. 

 

Lance’s snort brought Shiro back to reality. His face contorted into a look of utter shock and confusion. “Seriously?” Pidge elbowed him, “I mean, seriously? That’s the condition? Geez, I might as well have this virus from all the rejection I receive.”

 

“Shut up, Lance,” Hunk chastised him. “This isn’t funny.”

 

“I’m not trying to make a joke out of this!” Lance protested, waving his arms sporadically. “All I’m saying is, why is Keith the unlucky one?”

 

Despite the ignorant way Lance had said it, he was right. Keith’s condition was caused by something so common, anybody could have developed it. But why Keith of all people? He’d never done anything wrong! He was the last person in the universe to deserve this awful disease! If anybody deserved it, it was Shiro! Especially after rejecting him like that! 

 

“You know, this sounds quite a lot like the fictitious disease known as hanahaki back on earth,” Pidge added. She sounded like she was talking to herself rather than the rest of the group. “But it’s just a fictional disease, it can’t possibly be real.”

 

“Unfortunately it is very real,” Allura sighed, “and the only known cure is for it to be surgically removed.”

 

“Well, then get it arranged,” Shiro demanded.

 

“It comes with a price,” Allura answered with a sympathetic look. She pressed a button and the hologram faded. “The victim will lose their feelings for the person along with the virus.” She gazed at Keith with a disheartening look. ‘That’s something that is up to Keith on whether or not he wants it…”

 

Shiro turned to Keith with a wave of guilt. It was entirely his fault. But even more frustrating was the fact that he hadn’t known. When the two of them met again, Shiro wasn’t really aware that Keith was still… It was unfair, the answer to all Keith’s suffering was so easy, but he knew Keith would rather endure the pain than lose Shiro. 

 

Everybody had grimly left the room soon after a brief fight on whether they should undergo the surgery with or without Keith’s consent. Shiro had a feeling that Keith had known of the cure for awhile but decided not to. Allura had decided that everybody needed a moment to cool off and had closed off the infirmary to let Keith rest in peace. Not knowing where to go, Shiro decided to head off to the control room and help the Alteans do a status check. Neither of them brought up Keith, which was a huge relief for Shiro but it didn’t help him take his mind off of his friend. All he could think about while assisting them was Keith’s ghostly appearance in that pod, and how it was his fault, not only that Keith got hit, but also the disease he had and that there wasn’t anything they could do about it. As soon as they finished, Shiro returned to the infirmary, which was were he was at currently, hoping that Keith would heal a little faster.

Shiro rested his head against the glass door and whispered, “I’m so sorry, you don’t deserve to love somebody like me. I--” Shiro wiped a tear that was streaming down his face. “I promised your father that I would take care of you. I made sure that the two of us stayed together for a long time. Remember when everybody else gave up on you, I took you in and tutored you, I taught you everything I know about piloting and now look at you. You’re a paladin of Voltron. You’re one of the most heroic people in the universe, and I’m so proud of you. But now you’re sick and injured and I can’t bear the thought of somebody who I love very much--

 

The doors to the infirmary slid open and Shiro turned away, wiping away his tears and straightening his posture as he turned to greet whoever had entered. Lance was standing in the middle of the room, a sad, sympathetic smile on his face as he meekly said, “Hey.”

 

“Lance, what are you doing here?”

 

“Same as you I suppose,” Lance tilted his head towards Keith’s pod. He pointed to the stairs that led up to them, “Mind if I…?”

 

“Oh sure,” Shiro indicated the stairs, taking a seat on them. Lance joined him, sighing as he leaned back and looked up at Keith. 

 

“He’s stupid,” Lance declared. 

 

“He’s selfless,” Shiro corrected.

 

“A reckless idiot,” Lance added.

 

“He’s a quick thinker.”

 

“A hot-head,” Lance sighed, frowning as he continued. “He needs to be more careful. I don’t know what I’d do without him sometimes.”

 

Shiro placed his hand on Lance’s back and started rubbing it in comfort. “I know the feeling.”

 

“But you still love him, don’t you?” Lance turned to face Shiro, his expression serious.

 

Shiro’s heart leapt, “What do you mean?”

 

Lance held out his hand and opened it, revealing a dry flower. It was a red lotus with brown at the edges of every petal. It was starting to fall apart, little pieces of the flower were already in the palm of Lance’s hand. He closed his hand and leaned forward propping his chin on his hand as he peered at Shiro, “It’s you, isn’t it? The one who...the one who is making him feel this way.”

 

Shiro nodded grimly. “Yes.”

Lance nodded. “Keith was training when it happened. The two of us were working on some strategies when he suddenly doubled over and next thing you know there’s a pile of lotus on the floor,” Lance squinted as if he was uncomfortable from the memory, “I had no idea what was going on, and when I asked he tried to dismiss it. I was able to snag this before Keith cleaned it all up and I kept it ever since, wondering...but after today… well, I connected the dots.”

 

“I see,” Shiro felt sick, even Lance knew but he didn’t? He knew Lance and Keith had an odd relationship where the two of them hated each other but also had a great sense of caring for each other, despite neither wanting to admit it. They bickered like siblings and had several petty fights but in the end, if one of them was hurt they were immediately there to support the other. Keith had done it when Lance was in a coma after the bomb went off during the Arusian party, and Lance was currently doing it, sitting by the pod and watching Keith intently. It was a good relationship, as strange as it was, but it wasn’t as great as Shiro and Keith. The two of them had a special bond from the moment they met like their fates were woven together; if you believed in that stuff. In conclusion, the fact that Lance knew when Shiro, the closest person to Keith, didn’t was a big fat insult. 

 

Lance must have noticed how uncomfortable Shiro felt with the revelation because he patted Shiro’s back, “Hey man, it’s not that big of a deal, he didn’t want anybody knowing, I just happened to be there. I didn’t even know what was going on until now,” Lance stopped for a brief second as if he was pondering something before turning to Shiro. “I think...if I remember correctly, there is another cure.”

 

“What is it?” Shiro asked. He would do anything to help Keith, especially since his situation was entirely Shiro’s fault.

 

Lance opened the palm revealing the lotus. “Tell him the truth,” and before Shiro could ask what he meant he continued, “tell him you love him.”

 

“Lance I can’t lie--”

 

Lance stood up, his blue eyes dead serious as he looked at Shiro. “Who are you lying to? Yourself or Keith?” He left the room, leaving Shiro alone again. Before he could bring himself to look over at Keith his eyes fell down at something that was left behind on the floor; a single dried up lotus flower. Shiro picked it up and kept it for safe-keeping. 

 

He spent the next week thinking about his conversation with Lance. Him? In love with Keith? That was something he never thought about. It felt weird and foreign to him. Keith was always...somebody  _ special _ to him, but love? It never crossed his mind. Sure Keith was attractive, and had an enticing personality, and had the cutest laugh, and even cuter pout--but no no he was absolutely, positively,  _ not _ in love with Keith. He was not in love with Keith’s smile, and the way his hair felt on Shiro’s fingertips, and he was definitely not in love with the faint sparkle in those dark blue eyes. And Shiro was definitely not thinking about how everything felt right when Keith’s lips were against his, like the whole world came together when the two touched. His conflicted feelings kept him awake until ungodly hours of the night until one day he sat up, his heart pounding rapidly as he finally decided to admit it to himself.

 

“I  _ am _ in love with him.”

 

He tried to get some rest but his realization kept him awake. It didn’t help that it was the day Keith was going to come out of that pod. Shiro was, needless to say, nervous. He knew that he had to tell Keith, especially since that would cure Keith. He just didn’t how to go about it, or if Keith would even want him after waking up.

 

Everybody had gathered in the infirmary. Keith was still asleep in the pod but everybody was eagerly waiting for it to open so they could greet him with open arms. Shiro wasn’t the only one who missed Keith over the past couple of days. Hunk had made chocolate pudding for Keith,while Pidge had constructed a white noise generator from scrap to help Keith sleep. Allura had a book for Keith to entertain himself for after awakening, he’d need to be bedridden for a few days. The cover read  _ Galran History _ . Lance had a bouquet of red flowers, likely picked from the gardens the castleship had. Even Coran had something for Keith, gift wrapped into a glowy metal box that was meant to be a ‘secret,’ whatever that meant. Shiro had nothing for Keith except his arms ready to catch Keith when he came out. 

 

“Just a few more ticks,” Allura promised as she approached the pod. “When he wakes up he’s going to be a bit disoriented, so it’s best if we step back to avoid overwhelming him.” 

 

Lance stood by Shiro as they waited. Shiro turned to the brunet who was smiling excitedly. Lance caught Shiro’s gaze and wiggled his eyebrows teasingly. He gazed down to Shiro’s empty hands and lightly nudged Shiro’s arm with his elbow. “Trying to catch your prince, knight in shining armor?”

 

Shiro shoved Lance, who couldn’t help himself from laughing. “Shut up.”

 

Just then the cryo-pod opened and Keith gasped, pupils blown wide as he took a wobbling step forward. Shiro approached him and caught his arm. He felt cold under Shiro’s touch and was obviously still groggy as he struggled to keep his eyes open. The entire room held their breath as Keith lolled his head to the side and peered his eyes open, dark blue eyes gazing at Shiro. “Shiro?”

 

Shiro released a sigh of relief, knowing that Keith was okay. “Hey.” He gave Keith the widest smile he’d had in years.

 

Keith smiled back, face slightly flushed. “Hey.”

 

Before he could stop himself, Shiro pulled Keith in for a hug, nestling Keith’s head against his chest. He was so overwhelmed with emotion he began to cry. “Thank god you’re alright.”

 

Keith was frozen for a few seconds before he reciprocated.

 

“Aww,” Lance cooed, “how adorable.”

 

“Oh, I don’t wanna be left out of a hug!” Hunk cried out as he set down his bowl of pudding and ran in for a hug. Immediately, Shiro and Keith were squished by Hunk’s strong arms around them.

 

“Yeah, group hug!” Pidge called out as she ran in to join the hug, followed by the others. 

 

“Glad to have you back buddy,” Hunk said. 

 

“I’m glad to see that you are alright, Keith,” Allura added. “The entire team was worried for you.”

 

“I’m sorry for making you all worry,” Keith apologized, eyes sparkling with tears. He looked up at Shiro, the corner of his lip turning up as he admitted, “but I don’t regret saving Shiro. I would do it as many times as it takes.”

 

Lance reached over Pidge and ruffled Keith’s hair teasingly, “Would you save me as many times as it takes?”

 

“No, you can rot in hell,” Keith snided as he swatted Lance’s hand away. 

 

Everybody laughed as Lance whined about Keith’s slap. After what felt like forever, the group hug ended and everybody parted, Shiro’s hand remaining protectively on Keith’s shoulder. They all remained close, presenting to him the gifts they had for him before taking Keith to his room to rest.

 

“He may be healed but he still needs some rest,” Allura stated, “especially after getting rid of the roots… It’ll be best if we leave him alone.”

 

Shiro helped Keith settle in his bed while the others helped placed their things neatly around him. He seemed really tired and as soon as everybody began to file out, Keith went out like a light. His light snores filling the room, just barely more audible than the white noise. 

 

While Keith took a nap, Shiro headed up to the observation deck, watching the universe pass by all around him. He wasn’t sure how long he was up there, but suddenly he had company. They were sitting next to him, silently admiring the stars with him. Shiro turned his head to find Keith next to him. He must have felt the gaze because Keith turned to face Shiro and gave him a tentative smile. 

“You should be resting.” Shiro chastised him.

 

“Not tired,” Keith replied softly, “Besides, I wanted to spend time with you.”

 

Shiro laughed airily. Keith’s too cute to be to resist. Not with those violet eyes that glow in the dark and long lashes that unintentionally bat when he _ really _ wants something. “Alright, I want to spend time with you too.” 

 

Keith visibly perks up but his only response is resting his head against Shiro’s shoulder. Shiro wraps an arm protectively across Keith’s shoulders and pulls him closer. His skin feels cold under his touch. Shiro ignores his beating heart and chooses to focus on the feel of Keith’s breath hitting his skin. It’s not the first time they’ve done this. Even back on earth the two often went on rooftops to admire the night sky wrapped up in each other’s warmth. Now to come and think about it, Shiro even had feelings for Keith back then. Which brought Shiro to another point.

 

“I’m sorry,” Shiro apologized.

 

Keith blinked in confusion and lifted his head to peer at Shiro suspiciously. “For what?”

 

“For rejecting you,” Shiro admitted, “If I had known you’d get your… condition I wouldn’t have.”

 

Keith’s eyes widened, “Y-you know about the hanahaki?”

 

“Yeah,” Shiro pulled out the dried flower Lance had left him a few days before. “Lance gave this to me and explained everything.”

 

“That meddlesome brat,” Keith muttered under his breath. He turned to Shiro and took the dried lotus. It crumbled away in Keith’s hand, “Forget this, okay? If you don’t love me back that’s okay, because I learned to live with it. I love you Shiro, and I don’t think I will ever stop. You shouldn’t feel guilty about rejecting because I would rather die of suffocation than have you miserable in a relationship with me.”

 

“No, Keith, you are not going to die because of this, I refuse to let you,” Shiro grabbed Keith’s shoulders, making the younger man gasp, “I love you Keith, and I’m sorry that it took me so long to realize it but I love you, and I don’t want anything to harm you, not if I could help it.”

 

Keith was absolutely frozen as he stared up at Keith, his mouth slightly open. Shiro felt like he might’ve accidentally broken the poor guy. The only indication that Keith was even alive was the way his eyes sparkled and his face that was quickly reddening with each passing second. Shiro found himself flushing with his outburst as well.  _ Get ahold of yourself Shiro. _

 

“... Keith?”

 

Keith smiled before grabbing Shiro’s face and smashing it against his lips. This time, Shiro immediately reciprocated, holding Keith’s hips in his hands as he pulled him closer. Keith’s lips were soft and warm, just like he remembered, and again that sense of right and belonging began to emerge as Keith opened his mouth. Shiro followed suit, the two of them lightly biting each other before pulling away trail of saliva following suit. Keith smiled as he wiped the saliva off his mouth.

 

“Took you long enough, you idiot.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always appreciated! :D


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